


I Can See Clearly Now (The Rain Is Gone)

by imafriendlydalek



Category: The Losers (2010)
Genre: Because he's awesome, Blow Jobs, Cabin Fic, Cabins, Cougar takes care of Jake, Fluff, Gunshot Wounds, Injury Recovery, M/M, Missions Gone Wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 11:24:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6282682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imafriendlydalek/pseuds/imafriendlydalek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was supposed to be an easy mission, and it might have been, if not for that damn rain. And to top it off, Jake gets shot. At least it's just the leg, and at least Cougar is there with him. Somehow, getting stuck in a tiny shack in the jungle with a gunshot wound and a fever isn't so bad with Cougar there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Can See Clearly Now (The Rain Is Gone)

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this fic was the product of one of those "it's 4 AM and I can't sleep so I will write fic in my head" nights. Stuck in a cabin is definitely of one of my favorite tropes and I realized that these two could actually plausibly end up stuck in the wilderness together, so it had to be done. Because reasons.  
> Disclaimer: I have never been to a jungle, so I may have taken liberties with some details. ::waves magic it's-okay-it's-fanfic wand::  
> MANY thanks go to Amethystina, who listened to all the headcanons I threw at her with the patience of a saint and beta-read and is awesome.

It was all because of the rain. 

That hideous, horrendous, relentless rain. The rain that had poured down on them for ten days straight, never letting up, just soaking every last thing until Jake had almost forgotten what it was like to be dry.

They’d been holed up in the middle of nowhere along the border between Argentina and Bolivia, because that was apparently where this month’s thugs had decided to set up shop for their fledgling rebel terror cell. Observe, gather evidence that they’re getting ready to strike, hit them first - that had been the Losers’ mission. Should have been easy enough; they’d done missions like that seemingly hundreds of times before.

But the damned rain.

The roads flooded. Guns jammed. Jake’s tech got cranky. Hell, even his _glasses_ didn’t work right in this weather. Jake couldn’t say for sure where it all started to go south, but right around the moment he felt the bite of a bullet in his left calf as he ran for cover, his soaked gear clutched to his chest and a rebel fighter in close pursuit, he was pretty sure things were Cape Horn, Straits of Magellan levels of south.

He ducked and rolled, down the small hill that more closely resembled a mud slide like Jake had once seen at a sorority party - minus the girls now, of course - and came to a rather painful stop against a large boulder. He let out a loud _ooof_ as the wind was knocked out of him, and it took a second to regain his bearings. He fumbled around in his gear for his pistol, having dropped his rifle long ago in the scramble to get out of their hiding spot after they’d been made by the rebels. He managed to get the gun out and up, aimed at the approaching rebel, but the shot that rang out just before the rebel crumpled backwards didn’t come from Jake. 

That was a long-range shot.

Jake let out a sigh of relief. So Cougar was still out there.

He wasn’t so sure about the others. Clay, Pooch and Roque had been with Jake in the hideout, with Cougar out in his sniping spot, when they’d been made. They’d gotten separated in the fray that ensued, Clay and Roque heading north towards the rebel base while Jake and Pooch had swung east to secure their way out. That hadn’t worked out as they’d hoped - the truck had gotten swamped by the rain, and even if the tires hadn’t been shot out, they wouldn’t have been able to get out of that mud. The rebels had clearly been expecting someone to come for the jeep because they’d opened fire, forcing Jake and Pooch to split up as they scrambled for cover. Too slowly, in Jake’s case, it seemed, judging by the hole in his calf.

Jake scanned the area as best he could with mud-smeared glasses to try and work out where Cougar was firing from. There was a rocky outcropping about a hundred yards away, but that was too obvious. Cougar never went for what would appear to be the first-choice spot - that was where someone would expect a sniper to be, so that was where he would not be. No, Cougar went for the more challenging spot. That copse of oak trees with the criss-crossed limbs, that was more Cougar’s style.

And sure enough, just a few moments later once the coast was clear, Jake saw a shadow drop down from the branches and head his way.

“Shit Cougs, you sure are a sight for sore eyes,” Jake ground out as he pressed a wad of cloth that had been the rebel’s shirt against his bleeding wound, tying it into a makeshift tourniquet.

“Surprised you can see anything with all that mud on your glasses,” Cougar replied, slipping an arm around Jake’s shoulders to help him up. “Gotta go, more on the way. Can you walk?”

Jake grimaced as he tested out putting weight on his leg. He nodded to Cougar. It would hurt like a mofo, but that would still be better than getting captured. “Well this day officially sucks.”

Cougar let out a huff and tugged Jake’s arm for him to come along. “They’re spread out the east. We go west.”

Jake hefted his pack onto his back and followed Cougar’s lead, limping carefully along. “You see where the others got off to?”

There was a subtle headshake, visible only in the wag of the brim of his hat. “Lost sight of Clay and Roque behind the hill. Pooch was heading east, but I lost sight of him saving your sorry ass.”

Jake let out a long huff of breath. “We should head to the rendezvous point.”

There was a loud explosion behind them. To the east. Where the rendezvous point was.

“We should get the fuck out of Dodge,” Jake corrected.

Cougar nodded in acknowledgement and they stumbled along quietly after that, each silently wondering about how their teammates had fared. Jake pulled his glasses off his face and wiped them tertiarily on his pants. It didn’t help much, since they just kept getting wet. He had no idea how long they trudged along, but it seemed like forever. It was slow going - the rain was still pelting down, and it would have been tough to slog through all that mud even without a gunshot wound in his leg. It was really starting to throb. He knew it wasn’t a serious wound, far from life-threatening, but definitely pretty fucking annoying. He was going to have to get it cleaned soon, too, if he wanted to keep it from getting infected. That would suck. Of course there was fat chance of getting anything clean with all this mud.

“Fuck,” Jake exhaled, reaching out to steady himself on a tree as his vision blurred. At least the broad leaves offered a little protection from the downpour.

Concern flickered over Cougar’s face. He held up a hand to signal for Jake to wait a moment as he shrugged the rifle case off his back. With enviable grace, Cougar hopped up, grabbed hold of a low tree branch, and swung himself up into the tree, climbing higher quickly.

Jake pulled out his GPS unit while he waited for Cougar to return. He wasn’t sure why he bothered after a quick look at it - it had been in his hip pocket when he’d rolled into that boulder, and it was fucked. The transmitter was busted, and the casing had cracked so water had seeped in. Jake might be able to fix it, if he could get it dried out and if he had a soldering iron.

“Well that’s a lot of ifs,” he mumbled, tossing the broken device back in his pack. For now, it was useless.

“Two klicks, southwest.”

“Holy shit, Cougs!” Jake yelped, his hands instinctively flying to his gun at the sudden sound. 

Cougar chuckled softly, raising his hands to show he wasn’t a threat. “Rain muffles noises. Come on.” He picked his rifle case up and hefted it onto his back. “There’s a river that way. We follow that, we’ll find a settlement.”

The idea of walking two more kilometers just to get to a river where they might potentially find civilization held little appeal to Jake. At least it was downhill, though. Cougar must have picked up on his apprehension because he held back until Jake caught up, then wrapped an arm around Jake’s waist to take some of his weight off his leg.

On a normal day, Jake’s heart would have been soaring at the idea of Cougar’s arm wrapped around his waist. Today, Jake just wanted a nap. 

And lots of painkillers.

And some dry socks.

***

Maybe fate didn’t have it out for Jake as badly as he’d suspected after all that trudging through the jungle in the pouring rain on a wounded leg. Also, Cougar was almost definitely some sort of spooky ninja with Spidey-senses. 

Those were the conclusions Jake came to quickly after Cougar stopped short about two hours into their hike, so short that Jake crashed into him, muttering a waterfall of expletives at the sudden obstacle.

Cougar held up a hand to silence him, which was frightfully effective. “Something ahead,” he said quickly, nodding to the left. “Might be a shack. Wait here.”

Jake obeyed without argument, glad for the moment of rest. They’d put enough distance between themselves and the rebel hideout that there was virtually no chance anyone was still on their tail, but the more pressing concern now was getting out of the jungle before nightfall and to civilization before Jake’s wound got infected. The sky was already starting to grow darker, but they hadn’t made it to the river yet, so Cougar had pushed them on at a pace that was just that side of grueling for Jake with his injured leg. He didn’t hold it against Cougar - not at all, the man was actually acting in Jake’s best interests - but he definitely appreciated the chance to stop for a moment. He let himself slump against a tree trunk as he checked the bandage around his leg. The tourniquet was holding well, and the bleeding had stopped a while ago. The bullet had gone clean through his calf, missing the larger veins, so as long as he could get the wound cleaned up, he should be fine.

Which is why, when Cougar appeared again a few minutes later, carefully making a noise to announce his presence so Jake didn’t almost shoot him again, and informed him that there was, in fact, a shack just ahead and that it was empty but well stocked, well Jake could kiss him right about then.

“Let’s get that leg of yours cleaned up first,” Cougar replied with a chuckle.

_SHIT_ , Jake thought, realizing he had said that aloud. Damn his traitorous mouth. And woozy fatigue. Yeah, that was it.

Cougar was holding a hand out towards him to help Jake to his feet, so at least Jake’s slip-up hadn’t gone over completely terribly. There was a spark of amusement in those dark eyes when Jake allowed himself to look up into them briefly before taking Cougar’s hand and accepting the help. 

That could have gone worse.

He rose to his feet slowly, shouldered his pack and gestured for Cougar to lead the way. Cougar walked more slowly this time, clearly not in such a rush now that they weren’t hurrying to get to the river before nightfall. The terrain evened out a little and they finally reached a small clearing where, as Cougar had promised, a small shack stood nestled between two trees. It blended in almost seamlessly with the surrounding jungle, its siding weathered from years of exposure to the elements. The tiny shack looked like it had been cobbled together from scraps of wood and metal, but it seemed sturdy enough. Whoever built it had clearly put a lot of effort into it, if not a lot of money.

Cougar shoved the door open and gestured for Jake to step inside. Jake could have sworn there was a hint of pride on his face at having spotted this place. And he had every right to be, Jake was perfectly willing to concede as he looked around.

It wasn’t much, but right about now, it was the most perfect thing Jake had ever seen. There was a small stove in the wood-burning furnace in the middle of the single room, a small stack of dry wood piled up next to it. A cabinet and table stood in one corner, a bed in another. Next to the cabinet was a large plastic jug for carrying water, and above it on the wall hung a fishing net. A small shelf next to the bed contained a few neatly folded blankets and - oh thank god - some dry clothing.

Jake let out a happy groan as he dropped his pack and limped over to the shelf, pulling out the woolen poncho that lay on top. He didn’t think twice about tugging off his soaked tac vest and shirt, and his drenched and bloody pants while he was at it, and wrapping himself up in the warm, dry fabric.

“Oh that’s good,” he moaned.

It was only then that he realized Cougar was staring at him with one raised eyebrow. Jake just scoffed and shrugged as he pulled back the dusty sheet covering the bed. He let himself flop down with a happy sigh, glad to finally be off his leg.

God, he hadn’t realized how tired he was. His eyelids suddenly felt heavier than an elephant. He tried and failed to keep them open before giving up. He was allowed to have a nap - he’d been shot earlier that day. There had to be some sort of law about that.

He vaguely processed the sounds of Cougar rifling through the cabinets to take inventory. He should probably get up and help, he thought briefly, but he was much too tired. Nap first, survival later.

The bed dipped and creaked quietly as Cougar sat down, then warm hands were tugging at Jake’s injured leg. Jake didn’t bother fighting it.

“Need to get this cleaned up,” Cougar was saying.

Jake just grunted in response, slowly drifting off to sleep.

***

He woke with a start to the sound of a match being struck. He looked around, blinking to clear his vision and waiting for recognition to set in - what was this place? - but it was pointless without his glasses.

Where were his glasses? he thought, panic welling up. Without them, he was well and truly fucked, no matter where he was.

A dark shape moved toward him and he flinched back. That’s when a stab of pain bolted through him, starting in his lower calf, and he remembered. The mission gone awry, the firefight, the bullet tearing through his leg, the rebel going down before he could shoot Jake, the long and agonizing hike through the jungle, the cabin Cougar had found.

_“Cálmate.”_ The word was spoken quietly, softly, and followed by an equally soft touch on Jake’s shoulder. Cougar.

Jake felt the panic seep out of him. Somehow that one word had always been enough to bring Jake back down.

“Here, your glasses,” Cougar said, pressing the metal frames carefully into Jake’s hand.

Jake accepted them gratefully and put them on. He scanned the now-visible room, the hazy memory of arriving here slowly coming back to him.

It was light outside, or as light as it could be in the jungle while it rained, so Jake must have been sleeping for quite a while.

“How long was I out?” he asked groggily, pushing himself up.

Cougar shrugged as he turned back to the stove. “About fourteen hours.”

“Holy shit,” Jake exhaled. He pushed a hand through his hair, then looked down to find a blanket over his legs. “Wait, where did you sleep? There’s only one bed.”

Cougar smiled wrily. “You didn’t seem to mind being little spoon.”

Jake blinked back at him in a rare moment of speechlessness. Cougar had spent the night wrapped around him and he had been too passed out to even notice? Life really did have it out for him. What had he done to deserve this?

Unable to formulate a response, he carefully flexed the muscles of his injured leg. It was sore as hell, and he wasn’t looking forward to having to get up - though his bladder was going to insist fairly soon that he do so - but it could be a lot worse. There was a fresh bandage on it and the dried blood that had been caked around the entry and exit wounds was gone.

Cougar must have patched him up while he slept.

Shit. If Jake weren’t already totally gone for that man, this would probably be the moment he fell in love with him.

He looked over to where Cougar was carefully getting a fire started in the stove. He was focused on the small flames inside, fire flickering in his eyes, his gaze so intense that Jake was almost afraid to move lest it fall on him. Jake had seen Cougar’s wrath and he sure as hell never wanted to be on the receiving end of it. 

Which was why he’d never acted on his feelings. It was better push them down than to risk losing the best friend he had and worse yet, having Cougar hate him.

Cougar must have realized Jake was looking at him, because he glanced over from where he was Jedi-mind-tricking the fire into burning.

“Found some coffee,” he said. There was an unmistakable tone of joy in Cougar’s voice, and a hint of a smile on his lips.

Which, for Cougar, might as well have been a massive grin.

Okay, that was weird. This was possibly the happiest Jake had seen Cougar in a very long time. Which was odd, considering their situation - stuck in a tiny shack in the middle of the jungle with no means of communicating with the outside world. Just the two of them. 

But hey, at least there was coffee.

Jake swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled himself to a seated position with a groan. His pants were hanging with the rest of the clothes he’d been wearing the day before from a washing line strung across the room. Wow, whoever owned this shack really had thought of everything.

Cougar looked over to Jake and nodded towards the shelf near the bed, where a pair of linen pants was laid out next to a woven shirt. Jake stepped into the pants carefully, not bothering to tie the waistband. They were a bit wide in the waist and definitely a few inches too short in the leg, but Jake could live with that. The shirt, on the other hand, was easily three sizes too big, even for Jake’s broad shoulders. Oh well. At least the dark blue brought out his eyes, he thought with a huff to himself. 

He tugged on his still-wet boots, wincing at the squelch as he stepped, and headed outside. There were plenty of trees to choose from as his own personal open-air bathroom. It was raining hard enough to wash everything away anyway.

He was drenched again by the time he got back into the cabin, but the fire was going nicely so he huddled next to the stove. At least linen dried quickly.

Cougar pressed a mug into his hands and he cradled it carefully as Cougar poured dark coffee into it. There wasn’t any milk, of course, but Jake had learned to take his coffee black anyway. He smiled up at Cougar gratefully as he inhaled the delicious scent steaming from the mug.

Cougar returned the smile, and that thought rolled through Jake again. Why was Cougar so damned happy?

Whatever it was, Jake decided it was far better than the other possibility, that Cougar might realize the predicament of their situation and fall into a gloom. So he opted to roll with it, not to question it, to let Cougar be happy if he so chose. He was going to do his best to keep Cougar that way, he decided, because gloomy Cougar was no fun at all, so he resolved to take another look at that busted GPS unit once he’d finished his coffee. His stomach spoke up just then with a loud growl. Okay, after coffee and maybe some breakfast.

Cougar raised an eyebrow and smirked towards Jake’s abdomen, then nodded toward the table. He’d been busy while Jake slept, it seemed. What must have been the contents of the cabinet were laid out carefully on the table, likely so they could be inventoried, and the plastic jug that had been empty the night before was now filled with water. Jake sat up straight to get a better look, not quite wanting to get up just yet.

“Wow,” he let out as he took it all in. There were rows of canned food - vegetables, some pasta meals and soups - as well as dried beans and a big jar full of rice. And two packages of coffee, one now opened.

“Should be enough for two weeks for both of us,” Cougar estimated. “There’s a lake with fresh water just behind the cabin and should be good hunting out in the jungle. Saw some peccary tracks in the mud.”

“What’s a peccary?” Jake asked cautiously, one eyebrow raised.

The corner of Cougar’s mouth quirked up. “It’s like a wild boar.”

An image of Cougar coming into the cabin with a dead boar draped over his shoulders popped into Jake’s head and he had to fight back a laugh. Thing was, he could totally picture that happening.

Especially when Cougar added with a shrug, “I’ll try my luck tomorrow. Today, rice and beans.”

***

Jake turned his focus to taking inventory of the tech he’d taken in his pack and what of it he might be able to get working while Cougar conjured dinner. There was the busted GPS unit, his and Cougar’s comm units - which crackled only with static when he tried them - and his laptop. Water ran out of the keyboard when he turned it on its side, and he knew better than to even think about turning it on before it had had a good forty-eight hours to dry. Of course setting it in that rice might speed things up, but even suggesting it to Cougar would probably get his head torn off. No, they were going to need that for eating, at least if they wanted to not go hungry.

Jake’s stomach growled again loudly as he carefully pried open the casing of the GPS unit. He looked up to the stove, where Cougar was staring intently into the pot he was stirring.

“Five more minutes,” he said without looking away.

Shit, it was like Cougar could hear his thoughts. That was a terrifying idea.

“Your stomach speaks louder than you,” Cougar said with a chuckle.

Shit, maybe he really could?

“Well, it’s been a while since it’s had any input,” Jake said with a shrug, climbing slowly to his feet. He grabbed hold of the bed frame to steady himself as he pulled himself up.

“How’s it look?” Cougar asked, nodding towards the pile of tech.

“Not great,” Jake replied with a wince as he put weight on his injured leg to hobble over to the stove. He peeked over Cougar’s shoulder into the pot as he explained the situation, Cougar batting his fingers away when he tried to nab a kidney bean from the pot.

“Patience,” he scolded.

Jake whined and sank down onto the chair, folding his arms for good measure.

Cougar shook his head and tossed a kernel of dry rice at Jake. It hit him in the ear (of course it did, that unerring fucker) and took Jake all the time until dinner was ready to fish back out.

They ate in companionable silence, Cougar on the chair and Jake stretched out on the bed with his leg propped up on Cougar’s thigh. Silence was unusual for Jake, but his leg was throbbing pretty fiercely, which killed his will to converse. It was a simple meal, yet Cougar had somehow managed to make it delicious even without a lot of spices or too many ingredients to work with. His stupid crush on the man aside, Jake was glad he was stuck in their little shack with Cougar rather than Clay or Pooch - they couldn’t cook for shit. He was also glad not to be stuck with Roque, not because he couldn’t cook - he could - but because Roque would almost certainly end up gutting Jake after three days of being stuck with him.

The question of how their teammates had fared flickered through Jake’s mind, but he tried to push it down as he shoved another forkful of rice and beans into his mouth. Until he got his tech running again, or his leg recovered enough for them to venture back out into the jungle to find civilization, they had no way of knowing. Their teammates could all be dead, or they could have all made it out and were waiting for them back at the safe house in Bueno Aires. There was little point in speculating now, Jake decided. 

Cougar collected their empty plates after they’d finished, giving Jake’s shoulder a warm squeeze to indicate it was okay for him to stay on the bed while Cougar took care of the washing up. Jake pursed his lips in an attempt at a grateful smile, but he was too exhausted to manage more than that. Instead he let his head slump back against the pillow, his eyes already drooping closed. Everything hurt. His leg ached, his arms felt heavy, even breathing felt like an awful lot of work. He somehow managed to roll over onto his side, curling into the blanket. Why was it so cold in here? It had been so warm earlier - it was summer time in the jungle, after all - but Jake was suddenly freezing.

He was barely aware of Cougar coming back into the cabin. He vaguely felt a hand pressing against his forehead, a string of Spanish obscenities being muttered far away, the shadow of Cougar’s body disappearing again. Then something cool touched his neck, was being pushed under the collar of his shirt as the blanket was pulled up. The bed dipped and words were being said, more soothing this time. So soothing. Jake let himself be lulled to sleep by the sound. His favorite sound - Cougar’s voice.

***

Jake was in and out of it for a while. It was only after the fever finally broke that he learned from Cougar that it had been six days since they’d found the cabin. 

“Cougs,” Jake mumbled, his eyes fluttering open. A hand settled on his shoulder and he tried to focus on the figure sitting beside him. His glasses were placed carefully on his nose, and that helped.

There were deep lines between his teammate’s brow where it must have been furrowed in concern as Jake had teetered in and out of consciousness, and dark rings under his eyes. Cougar looked like he’d barely gotten any sleep in days. 

“Cougar,” Jake repeated, his voice a little stronger now.

Cougar smiled weakly down at him.

“Cougar, you look like shit.”

There was a quiet laugh and a gentle squeeze of his shoulder. “Well you smell like shit.”

Jake sniffed the air around him. Cougar had a point. “Touché, buddy.”

“If you are feeling up for it, the water in the lake isn’t too cold. Might do you good.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jake said with a grimace as he tried to pull himself up. Cougar leaned forward, slipping an arm around Jake’s back to help him to his feet. Jake patted Cougar’s stomach in appreciation. There were no words to express how grateful he was for everything Cougar had done for him as he fought the fever, but with Cougar there was no need for words. He just smiled back at Jake, clearly relieved to see him back on his feet.

They made their way slowly over to the lake, which was really more a pond formed by where the stream had been dammed. Cougar helped Jake out of his clothes - not that Jake really needed the help, but he was selfish/stupid enough to not pass up an opportunity to have Cougar undress him - before shimmying out of his own (again, not an opportunity Jake would pass up watching). Jake was sure to sink into the cool water before his libido could come up with anything embarrassing.

“Uuuugh, that’s good,” he groaned at the feel of the water on his skin. Even though it was still raining and they’d spent the better part of the past two weeks soaked to their bones, having an actual bath in actual clean water was definitely a happy change.

There was a quiet splash as Cougar joined him, his body sliding into the water next to Jake’s. Maybe a little too close. It was a good thing this water wasn’t crystal clear, Jake decided.

And then Cougar reached over and started rubbing between Jake’s shoulder blades, his slightly calloused fingers working out the tension Jake hadn’t realized he’d had there, and God if that wasn’t some new form of torture Cougar had been trained in. It was a good thing Jake had been trained to withstand that sort of thing, because otherwise he’d be confessing his sins and, worse, his _feelings_ faster than his niece when promised a Kit Kat bar.

Jake leaned into the touch, let his eyes droop shut. “Hmmm, ‘s nice,” he drawled.

Cougar’s hands stilled instantly and slipped away.

No, not good, not what Jake wanted!

“There’s soap and rain water in the bucket behind the house if you want to wash your hair,” Cougar said, already climbing out of the water. “I’ll go start dinner.”

Jake sighed and ducked his head beneath the water. That man was going to be the death of him. Sometimes Jake thought they knew each other inside and out, and other times he was this strange enigma whose thoughts and feelings Jake could only guess at. A beautiful, intriguing enigma. 

An enigma that Jake, giant tech geek that he was, was dying to crack.

***

The next morning, after an awkward night of trying to share a twin-sized bed without coming into contact with each other, because apparently Cougar thought there needed to be at least an inch between them at all times, Cougar announced that he was going to go hunting. Jake wasn’t sure if he was anxious to head out of the cabin to get some distance between them and whatever had (or hadn’t) happened, but then again, they did actually need to start thinking about getting more food, so it was for the best either way. Jake wanted to take a look at his gear anyway, now that it had had a few days to dry out.

Those days had been good for Jake’s laptop, which booted up without a hitch, if somewhat begrudgingly. She was still running a bit sluggish, though, and there was not even the faintest glimmer of a signal out here to get a message out, so Jake powered her down soon after making sure his data was still safe. If he had better tools, he could have popped her open and done some better maintenance, but all he had was the little toolkit he kept in his computer case. Tiny screwdrivers and tweezers were fine and dandy, but what Jake really needed was a soldering iron. Especially if he was going to have any hope of repairing the GPS unit, he thought as he started to disassemble it in earnest and got to see the true extent of the damage. Glorified paperweight, that’s what it was now.

Well, not much he could do about it at the moment, he decided and started to pack up again. He was just about finished screwing the GPS unit back together when he spotted movement outside the cabin. Quickly he ducked over to where his pistol lay, rolled carefully behind the door and peeked out the window.

He let out a loud laugh when he recognized what was headed towards him. It was Cougar, though he’d looked a lot bigger at first because of the giant _boar_ slung over his shoulder.

“I swear, I’m going to start calling you Obelix,” Jake called to Cougar as he stepped outside, still laughing.

“You’d be Obelix,” Cougar scoffed, dropping the animal with a heavy sigh. “I’ve seen your eating habits.”

Jake considered the statement for a second and shrugged. “Fair enough. You can be Asterix. Is this one of those peccary things?”

_“Sí.”_ He reached into a cloth bag he had tied around his shoulders and tossed Jake a papaya.

Jake examined the fruit and shot Cougar an impressed smile as he bit into it. “Look at you, hunter-gathering.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Cougar scoffed with a teasing smile as he started to gut the peccary.

“I’ll, uh, leave you to the fun part and go build a fire,” Jake said, gesturing towards the wood pile. While there was something undeniably sexy about Cougar going out and hunting their dinner, Jake really did not care to watch it being turned into pork chops.

They roasted the meat over a fire outside - it was great to be out of the cabin after so many days of rain. Cougar whipped up a dish with rice and papaya to go with it, which sounded terrible in theory but Jake was very happy to discover was actually delicious in practise. If he was making heart eyes at Cougar while they ate, well, it was just the food making him do it.

After dinner Cougar dragged the carcass of the peccary out into the woods while Jake cleaned up, then they brought out one of the thicker blankets and laid out on it, watching the stars come out over the jungle. It was nice, just chatting with Cougar (okay, maybe more like _at_ him), enjoying the evening. Sure, they were still stuck in the jungle, but Jake felt pretty good about their situation. They had enough food, and clearly the means to keep themselves fed even when the stocks started to run low. They had a roof over their heads and clean water to drink, Cougar was healthy and Jake was on the mend. 

And they had each other.

That was worth everything Jake had just tallied up in his head combined.

In a few days, they’d be able to head down the mountain and back to reality. But for now, Jake was savouring this time alone with Cougar.

He couldn’t help but wonder how Cougar felt about their situation.

“Hey Cougs,” he finally said into the silence, their conversation long since tapered off.

“Hmm?”

“At the risk of sounding like Frodo, I’m glad you’re with me, Cougs, here at the end of all things.”

Jake could feel the smile radiating from Cougar, who rolled over onto his side so he was half-leaning over Jake. “Me too,” he replied quietly.

Jake had never been particularly good at resisting temptation, and something in the way Cougar was looking back at him told him maybe he didn’t have to. So Jake leaned closer, shifting slightly so their bodies were angled towards one another, and brought a hand up to pat Cougar’s cheek.

“It’s not the end of all things,” Cougar said.

Jake smiled softly. “No. Mostly cuz you keep saving my sorry ass,” he added with a laugh.

Cougar lifted his head to look around Jake’s shoulders to his backside. He nodded it from side to side as if making an assessment and grinned. “‘s worth saving.”

“Cougar, you sly dog!” Jake exclaimed, feigning offense. “Are you checking out my ass?!”

“Maybe,” Cougar replied with a casual shrug.

Jake grinned, a warm surge of happiness rolling through him, which apparently his traitorous body took as a cue for him to let out a big yawn.

“We should get to bed,” Cougar said, and with that, whatever it was that had been building between them was instantly gone. He got to his feet and leaned down to offer Jake a hand getting up. 

Jake waved it away and hauled himself up on his own. Sure, it would have been easier to accept Cougar’s help, but he was getting a little tired of relying on him so much. And whatever this back-and-forth, maybe-yes-maybe-no that was going on was. It was frustrating. One minute Jake could swear there were definite “I want this too” vibes coming from Cougar, the next minute he treated Jake just like any other teammate.

Cougar picked up the blanket and shook it out before following Jake into the cabin. Jake had already stripped down to his boxers and crawled into the bed; Cougar joined him without a word.

He also didn’t say anything as he curled around Jake, his hand resting on Jake’s shoulder.

“Good night, Cougs,” Jake mumbled.

“Good night, Jake,” Cougar replied.

It was ages before Jake actually managed to sleep, though. He lay quietly, thoughts racing, heart pounding at the warmth of Cougar’s hand on his bare skin. God, this was actual torture. Worse than anything he’d been trained for. He listened as Cougar’s breathing evened out until he was sleeping soundly. Jake contemplated getting up, anything to get away from this, to help burn off the anxious energy he was crawling with. But that would no doubt wake Cougar up, which would lead to questions, and Jake wasn’t sure he could keep it to himself much longer. Plus in his sick masochistic way, Jake was also reluctant to give up this proximity. They were close most of the time, sure, but this was a completely different level of closeness, and Jake _really_ liked it. 

He must have drifted off to sleep at some point, though, since he was woken by Cougar gently squeezing his shoulder.

“Jensen,” Cougar hissed quietly. “Jensen, wake up.”

Jake was up instantly, adrenaline surging through him. He fumbled for his glasses, which Cougar pressed into his hand.

“What’s-”

“Shhh,” Cougar interrupted. “Come here.” He stepped quietly over to the window and raised his binoculars to his eyes.

Jake crept across the small room, careful to grab the pistol off the table. Why had Cougar left it there and not taken it with him?

“Look,” Cougar said, passing him the binoculars when Jake peered over his shoulder.

Jake took the binoculars and squinted through them - he’d always hated binoculars. His glasses always got in the way. There was a hint of movement in the trees in the distance, just faint rustling.

“Someone coming?” Jake whispered, though he could tell by Cougar’s relaxed manner that that was probably not the case.

“No,” Cougar breathed, “look closer.”

Jake frowned and looked into the binoculars again, trying to make out whatever it was that was moving in the pitch black of the jungle. He exhaled and tried to relax, like Cougar had taught him that time they had gone to the sniper range. There was movement again, and Jake watched carefully. And again. Finally he could make out an animal moving in the bushes. It looked like it was eating something.

“Is that-?” Jake started.

_“Sí,_ it is.” Cougar smiled down at Jake warmly. “I left the peccary carcass out for it.”

Jake turned back to watch the cougar picking over the remains. It was magnificent and slightly terrifying to watch as the feline pulled off a rib, crunching on the bone. Jake had only seen cougars in the zoo before - this was truly amazing.

He told Cougar as much, who smiled back at Jake. “There are lots of cats out here in the jungle, but it is rare that you get to see one. Thought you might like it.”

“Thanks, Cougar,” Jake replied, allowing his fingers to brush over Cougar’s hand appreciatively.

“Pumas are great opportunists, you know,” Cougar continued, his words somewhat hesitant. “They’ll lie in wait quietly for hours, but they see something, they’ll take it.”

“I know a guy like that…” Jake teased, turning to face Cougar.

“They don’t like taking chances, though, if the outcome is unsure.” Cougar met Jake’s gaze and held it. He reached out, hesitantly, and rubbed a thumb lightly over Jake’s forearm.

It was intense, being the object of Cougar’s full attention, and Jake sucked in a breath, suddenly aware that he was only wearing boxers. “Pumas always seem so confident. I bet they can tell a sure thing when they see one.” He brought his hand up, settling in on the bones of Cougar’s hip.

Cougar tipped his head to the side and looked at Jake as if considering his statement. “They might be concerned about misjudging a situation and making things awkward. Especially out in the jungle with no one else around.”

“We’re not talking about cats anymore, are we?”

Cougar glanced down, then back at Jake and shook his head ever so slightly.

_Fuck it_ , Jake thought as he reached up to cradle Cougar’s face in his hands. “Then I really hope I’m not misjudging,” he breathed before leaning in and pressing his lips against Cougar’s. They were just as soft as he’d always imagined, it turned out.

A happy sigh came from Cougar, and a hand slipped around the back of Jake’s neck.

_Oh thank god._ It was everything Jake had wanted, and yet he still wanted more. He darted his tongue out to brush against Cougar’s lips, who followed his cue and parted them. The hand on Jake’s neck tightened, pulling him closer so that their bodies were pressed against each other. Which definitely made Jake all the more aware that they were only wearing boxer shorts.

He couldn’t even begin to count the number of times he had imagined running his hands over that tattoo on Cougar’s chest, or better yet, his tongue. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity, so he pulled away just enough to start nuzzling his way down Cougar’s neck.

_Did Cougar just purr?_ Yeah, he totally did. Jake chuckled into the side of Cougar’s neck, making a mental note of the exact spot that earned him that kind of a reaction from one of the Army’s finest snipers.

And that’s when it hit him, as he was just about to run his hands down Cougar’s back over that delicious-looking ass of his and reel him in closer so Cougar could tell just how very much Jake was into this, that this was _Cougar_ he was making out with. Sure, he’d thought about this _a lot_ , how this would change the nature of their relationship, the effects it could have on them working together, but somehow now, as he was actually touching Cougar in ways he’d only imagined, it felt so much more real. Their working relationship could probably survive an unexpected make-out session, passed off as a by-product of the stress of a mission gone awry, but anything more could drive a serious wedge between them. It was easy to ignore concerns like that when the whole thing was just an abstract concept, a fantasy, but reality had a way of being much more… gritty. And Jake would hate for things to get gritty between them.

So he pulled back, untangling his limbs from Cougar and breaking the kiss reluctantly. He brought his hands up again to cradle Cougar’s face and opened his eyes to meet Cougar’s gaze.

He looked happy, but also really tired. The weight of taking care of both of them seemed to be finally taking its toll on him.

“Cougar,” Jake breathed, “this is awesome. I want to do this, like, _all_ the time. But maybe we should get some sleep and figure out exactly what _this_ -” he gestured between them “-is in the morning?”

Cougar just smiled and leaned in to kiss Jake chastely. “That sounds great.”

He took Jake by the hand and led him over to the bed, which suddenly seemed so very tiny, and laid down. A hand stretched out towards Jake, inviting him to join him.

Jake took the invitation willingly, curling up with his back against Cougar’s chest. He was more than happy to be the little spoon for Cougar, especially when Cougar wrapped his free arm around him and hauled him in close, his lips pressing soft kisses into Jake’s shoulder before mumbling sleepily “Good night, Jake.”

Jake brushed his fingers over Cougar’s hand. “Good night, Cougar.”

***

Things were awkward in the light of day.

For all of ten seconds.

Cougar had woken before Jake, but Jake had apparently latched himself around poor Cougar’s arm during the night, so Jake woke to Cougar trying to untangle himself from Jake’s clutches.

“Need that arm,” Cougar said when Jake groaned in protest at being woken.

“Need Cougar cuddles,” Jake protested sleepily. Then it hit him what he had just said, and he was suddenly wide awake. Memories flooded into his mind, memories of kissing, of touching, of deciding to see how things were in the morning before taking things further.

Warm lips were pressed into Jake’s shoulder and a chuckle from Cougar vibrated through Jake’s body where their torsos were pressed against each other. “You will have cuddles,” Cougar said, “but first I need to use the tree.”

Jake had never been so reassured by a declaration of needing to pee. He pushed himself up far enough to allow Cougar to pull his arm free, enjoying the view as Cougar crawled over him and slipped out of the cabin. Jake lay back with a smile on his face, willing himself not to start overthinking the events of last night. It was fine, it would be fine. Better than fine, actually. Cougar had said there would be cuddles. That had to mean he was into the idea of _them_ too, right? Surely it did. Cougar would be back in a minute, they would cuddle some, declare their mutual undying love for each other and have hot, passionate sex.

_Okay, maybe don’t get ahead of yourself, Jensen,_ Jake reprimanded himself. For starters, there probably wasn’t anything in this otherwise magical cabin that resembled lube. _That’s okay, blowjobs are nice too…_ Jake pushed himself up into a sitting position reluctantly, his injured leg sore as he stretched it out. Yeah, okay, maybe paying the tree a visit would be a good idea.

Cougar came back just as Jake was working himself up to get out of bed and rushed over to help Jake. The smile on his face ceded to worry when he saw Jake grimace as he stood. “We need to get you to a doctor,” he remarked. A hand ran through Jake’s hair, stroked over his chin.

“I’ll be fine,” Jake deflected, waving his hand in the air nonchalantly. “Just gets sore at night.” He hobbled over to the door and ducked outside without another word.

It was raining again. Goddammit. The only reprieve they’d had from the monsoon in the past weeks had been the evening they grilled the peccary. Sure, Jake was aware that this was summer in the tropics, which always meant lots of rainfall, but he was still allowed to be sick of it. It was mid-December. Back in New Hampshire, Jess and Beth would be decorating the house for the holidays. It would be delightfully cold (god, what Jake wouldn’t give for anything other than this awful humidity!). It might even be snowing. Jess might have started a fire in the little wood-burning stove Jake and Cougar had helped put in a few years back. There would be hot chocolate and Christmas carols.

Except Jake was here, stuck in the jungle. While the company was great - no arguing that - in a few days, the rest of the team would probably start assuming the worst had happened to them. Geez, the Army would be going around to notify Jess just before Christmas.

Jake couldn’t let that happen.

He stopped by the lake to wash his hands and face before heading back into the cabin. Cougar was chopping up some of the fruit he had collected the day before, and the smell of coffee wafted through the small room. He looked up when Jake entered, smiled warmly, and set the knife aside. Soon he was at Jake’s side, pressing a mug of coffee into Jake’s hands and a kiss onto his cheek.

It was perfect. All of this. Jake could happily live out his days here if they could keep this up forever.

But they couldn’t. Their loved ones thought they were dead, and eventually they would run out of food and, worse, coffee.

“We gotta get off this mountain,” Jake announced.

Cougar furrowed his brow at the sudden declaration. Okay, he’d probably been expecting something more along the lines of ‘Thanks’ or ‘You’re awesome, Cougar.’ Fair enough.

“Everyone is going to think we’re dead soon,” he explained. “If they don’t already.”

Cougar sucked in a breath and nodded grimly.

“I’m gonna try and get a signal again on the laptop. If I can just get a message out to Clay, at least they’ll know we’re okay.”

Cougar nodded again and reached out to squeeze Jake’s hand. “If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

Happiness flooded through Jake at the compliment. That might not be entirely true, but he was still willing to accept the sentiment.

They ate breakfast sitting side by side on the bed, their knees pressed up against each other. Every so often, Jake would steal a glance over to Cougar, who would return the look with a smile or lean over to sneak a kiss.

Jake was happy. He hadn’t felt this at ease in a long time. Sure, people thought they were dead, and his leg was still kind of worrying, but somehow this, just being here with Cougar and getting to share breakfast and kisses, was enough to ease those concerns.

Maybe if he could just get a message out, they wouldn’t have to hurry back.

So he set his mind to coaxing a signal out of his baby after breakfast. It was nice, picking apart tech and furiously coding as he sat bracketed between Cougar’s legs while Cougar quietly reread one of the books that had been in the cabin. Eventually Cougar’s leg fell asleep, so he went out to gather more fruit. Jake kept working. He had no idea how much time passed, just that Cougar slid a plate of leftover peccary “pork chop” and rice in front of him at some point and insisted he eat, which Jake did while he kept working. 

It was late, the sky outside already dark and the cabin lit only by the flickering lantern, when the GPS unit finally crackled with life.

“Ha-haa!” Jake declared triumphantly as it beeped weakly.

Cougar’s head had snapped up at the sound of the beeping, his eyes wide. “You did it.” 

It was a matter-of-fact statement, as if there had never been any doubt in Cougar’s mind that Jake would be able to pull it off. Well that at least made one of them.

He’d taken quite a risk, using the tweezers from his repair kit and the heat of the flame in the lantern to fuse the wires back together. One slip and it would have been rendered completely unsalvageable. But somehow it had worked, and Jake allowed himself to be proud of his achievement. 

For a moment. Every minute he left the device on was a minute less the battery would last, after all, so he couldn’t afford to waste any time.

The GPS unit wasn’t a two-way communicator. It only showed their location, but it also sent that information to the mainframe, which hopefully the team would have access to by now. Assuming they got out alright. Jake pushed the thought aside and held the device up, turning around and pacing through the room in the hopes of getting a slightly stronger signal. It would be better outside, without the roof in the way, so Jake wrapped the GPS unit in a piece of heavy linen to keep out that cursed, incessant rain, stepped into his boots and headed out.

He ended up climbing onto the roof, which hurt like a mother-fucker but was worth it when the beep came through clearly, the screen displaying their current coordinates. Jake pumped his fist in the air victoriously.

“Who’s the best? That’s right, Jensen’s the best.”

A derisive snort came from on the ground beneath where Jake sat.

“I heard that, Alvarez. Do not doubt my undeniable awesomeness. You know it’s real. There’s no sense in trying to deny it.” Jake switched the device off again, confident that the signal would have gotten through, and started the climb back down from the roof. 

Cougar was waiting for him, a hand stretched out to help steady Jake as he launched himself from the roof. Okay, maybe his leg wasn’t quite up for climbing yet.

So maybe Jake let himself fall into Cougar’s arms a little more readily than usual. But it was okay now, right? They’d been doing the kissing thing all day, after all. Surely he was allowed to now?

That seemed to be the case, if the way Cougar wrapped his arms around Jake and pressed his nose into the side of Jake’s neck was any indication. He held Jake close a little longer than probably necessary, but Jake was hardly going to complain. Instead he savored the moment, rain be damned, bringing his own arms up to wrap around Cougar. The hand holding the GPS unit settled at the small of Cougar’s back, just under his shirt, with his free hand carding through Cougar’s hair.

“That should do the trick. They’ll know we’re alive - well, at least that I am - and where we are. I don’t think they’d risk coming out here in a chopper, though, not with this weather and the rebels so close. So we’ll have to head down into town eventually. But-” Jake emphasized the t “-now I also know where we are,” he explained with a grin. “There’s a river down in the valley, and that’ll take us to the nearest town, about ten miles out. We can totally catch a signal there, and maybe sweet-talk our way to a ride back to Salta, and a bus to Buenos Aires from there.”

Cougar pulled his head back and shot Jake a questioning look.

“Okay,” Jake conceded, “maybe _you_ can sweet-talk our way to a ride. And by sweet-talk I mean doing that weird thing where you manage to charm the pants off the other person without actually saying anything.”

Cougar raised an eyebrow. “You’re still wearing pants,” he said matter-of-factly.

“We can fix that,” Jake shot back with a wink. Then he burst out laughing. “Wait, was that- did you just- is that how it works, the Cougar charm?”

Cougar tilted his head back and grinned. His hand at the small of Jake’s back spread, pushing gently to steer Jake into the cabin. “Don’t need charm with you, Jensen.”

“I object to that,” Jake protested, but it was a half-hearted sentiment, lost in the way he practically melted into Cougar’s touch. _Damn, this could get addicting._

They were both soaked again from the rain and made quick work of peeling off each other’s clothes once inside. Jake sucked in a breath when Cougar stood before him wearing nothing. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen each other naked before, but this was different. And Cougar certainly hadn’t been as aroused then as he clearly was now.

Cougar returned the gaze, his eyes drifting over Jake’s undressed body. Jake felt momentarily self-conscious but pushed the feeling aside. 

“Like what you see?” he asked.

Cougar nodded and reached out to run a hand along Jake’s side. _“Sí,_ very much.”

Strong fingers curled around Jake’s hip and pulled him close. Jake followed the gesture willingly, their bodies pressing against each other. A strangled gasp escaped the back of his throat as their cocks brushed together, Cougar’s facial hair tickling as he kissed along the side of Jake’s neck.

He let his hands wander up and down Cougar’s back, memorizing the way the muscles moved as his hands roamed over Jake’s body while pushing the two of them over to the bed.

The back of Jake’s knees hit the edge of the bed and he fell backwards onto the mattress, Cougar crawling over him to lie half on top of him. Hot lips were trailing kisses over Jake’s chest, hands moving down to brush along his thigh.

Jake let out a happy groan, which Cougar clearly took as the encouragement it was meant to be, wrapping his hand carefully around Jake’s cock.

“Geeeeezus,” Jake wheezed when a thumb ran lightly over the tip, just enough to send all his nerve endings firing.

“Call me Cougar,” Cougar chuckled into Jake’s ear.

Jake swatted playfully at Cougar’s ass in reply, the smack ringing loudly in the small cabin.

“Hmmm…”

Jake twisted his head to look down at Cougar. “Oh yeah? Cougs likes it rough?”

Cougar shrugged with a lopsided grin and turned his attention back to Jake’s cock, which Jake certainly was not about to object to. Cougar’s kisses along Jake’s body were definitely following a clear path south, and damn if that wasn’t the greatest thing that had happened to Jake all year.

Hot lips brushed over his hipbone, teeth scraping lightly over the sensitive skin. Jake let out a happy hiss, his back arching involuntarily. The anticipation of Cougar’s mouth so close to his cock was simultaneously awesome and killing him.

_Fuck it,_ Jake decided, and shoved Cougar off of him and onto his back. He could wait on that, but the thought of wrapping his own lips around Cougar and feeling him come down his throat was suddenly more than Jake could take. He licked slowly along the underside, earning him a happy groan from Cougar, and up along the rim of the head. Cougar’s fingers curled into the muscles of Jake’s back, nails digging in lightly. Jake hummed at the touch. Well there was a kink Jake hadn’t known he’d had…

He couldn’t resist any more. He kissed the head softly before taking Cougar into his mouth, slowly sliding his lips down the length. He lapped at the underside as he pulled up, readjusted, took more in. Cougar was groaning contentedly, fingers carding through Jake’s hair. It was a beautiful sight to behold, the way Cougar’s head was tilted back, his eyes shut as he clearly enjoyed what Jake was doing to him. His back arched when Jake swirled his tongue. Jake carefully catalogued the memory for future reference, intel in his new personal mission to find out all the ways he could make Cougar purr.

It was almost surreal, watching Cougar fall apart underneath him, considering how long Jake had dreamed of doing exactly this to him. Jake dug his fingernails into the tough muscle of Cougar’s thigh and was rewarded with another groan. He pulled his head back, lavishing all his attention on the tip of Cougar’s dick, which deserved to have temples erected in its honor.

Jake giggled at the word “erected.” Definitely apropos right now.

He slid back down again, carefully opening his throat to take in all of Cougar.

“Jake!” Cougar gasped.

Jake hummed in appreciation, which seemed to set Cougar off even more as nails raked Jake’s shoulders. Jake lost himself to the moment, his head bobbing as Cougar’s hips began to buck less controlledly.

“Jake,” Cougar said again, his tone somewhat warning. Jake splayed his fingers over Cougar’s chest to signal that it was okay and it didn’t take long before Cougar gasped again as he came.

It was a thing of beauty, the face Cougar made as he spilled himself down Jake’s throat. Jake found himself wishing he was more artistically inclined so that he might draw that look down to preserve it for posterity. Instead he would settle for making Cougar make that face again, and again, and again.

Shit, he wished this moment could last forever.

Maybe, just maybe, if Jake was lucky, when they got home from this little adventure in the jungle, they could do this again.

Jake didn’t have too much time to dwell on that thought, since Cougar was hauling him up to pull him in for a kiss. There was fire in his kiss, a heat that sent shivers coursing through Jake as Cougar licked into his mouth and fingertips trailed over his spine. Soon Jake found himself on his back again, Cougar’s hot mouth wrapped around his dick, tongue lapping eagerly. He pushed all thoughts of the future and the world outside the cabin aside, reveling in the moment. For now, there was only the two of them, exploring each other’s body, enjoying the way the other moved as they gave themselves up to pleasure.

They lay in blissfully sated silence, fingers running idly over cooling skin, when Jake finally spoke up.

“Cougs, what happens when we head into the valley and back to civilization?”

Cougar’s hand continued to run along Jake’s back, and he pressed a kiss onto the top of Jake’s head before replying. “You said it before. Find a signal, send a message to Clay, charm our way into a ride to base.”

“No,” Jake said, suddenly weary. “I mean, this.” He splayed his fingers over Cougar’s chest, pressed a kiss onto his collarbone. “What happens when we’re not alone in the jungle anymore?”

He twisted his head to look up at Cougar and watched as understanding flickered in Cougar’s eyes.

“Oh, you mean…” Cougar’s voice trailed off.

Jake nodded. “I mean.”

Cougar brought his hand up to run a finger along Jake’s jaw line. He pressed the tip of Jake’s nose and smiled. “Then we can take showers afterwards.”

Jake found himself grinning. “So you mean…?”

Cougar nodded. “I mean.”

Jake settled back down into the crook of Cougar’s arm. “Good,” he mumbled, sleepiness washing over him. “I’d like that.”

***

They spent the next day packing their things together and gathering supplies for the trip down into the valley. Cougar went out hunting again, this time returning with a deer, and they feasted on grilled venison sitting at the shore of their little lake.

Jake was going to miss this, he thought as he gnawed on a rib, his shoulder pushed into Cougar’s side. Maybe not the getting shot part, or the fever, or the bit where everyone else thought they were dead, but being all alone together, away from reality. There really was no one else he would rather be stuck in the jungle with.

***

The next morning was actually dry. The clouds had lifted, blue skies above the treetops, and the birds were singing as Jake and Cougar left their “love shack”, as Jake had taken to calling it, and set out into the valley.

“You know, I’m gonna miss this place,” Jake remarked as he turned to take one last look at the little cabin. 

Cougar huffed and smiled fondly at Jake, then took him by the hand to lead him away. “Me too. Now let’s go. Lots of walking today.”

Jake let out a whine at the thought but followed along.

It was tough going, finding a path through the rain-soaked undergrowth, but not nearly as bad as when they’d wandered into the jungle. It was a little cooler, for starters, and the fact that it wasn’t raining was great for their spirits. Jake kept up a steady monologue as they walked, mostly to keep his mind occupied but also because he knew Cougar secretly loved to listen to Jake talk. Every so often, Cougar would let out a snort or shoot Jake a look that said he was being ridiculous, but Jake knew to take it at face value. Cougar wasn’t actually annoyed by it; the soft wrinkles around his eyes when he smiled at Jake gave him away.

They finally hit the river by around midday and stopped for a quick lunch of cold venison and papayas before continuing along. It was getting dark by the time they reached the village. Cougar worked his charm and convinced a farmer and his family to take them in for the night. They were both exhausted from the day’s hike, especially Jake, who hadn’t had much physical activity since the attack, and quickly fell into a dreamless sleep curled around each other.

Sure enough, Cougar’s charm got them a ride into Salta. The farmer knew the local mechanic, it turned out, who was headed into the city to pick up some parts. Pooch would like this guy, Jake thought as he listened to the mechanic prattle on and on about his rusty jalopy. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was what everyone else thought of him when he got started on one of his tech-related diatribes.

He watched the countryside roll past as they chugged south to the city. A warm hand settled on his thigh and Jake looked over to see Cougar smiling back at him. He placed his own hand over Cougar’s and squeezed it lightly.

The mechanic dropped them off on the outskirts of the city and they made their way along busy streets to the bus stop, where they could catch a bus to Buenos Aires. They passed a cafe with WiFi, where they sat outside as Jake sent Clay a message. It was always a good idea to let people know you weren’t dead before showing up, Jake had learned - the reactions were generally less messy that way. Plus that way they could be sure the others would be there and expecting them. Sneaking up on the Losers was not a good idea, Jake had also learned. Especially Roque. Dude was _quick_ with a knife, and they were hard to duck.

“Well look what the cat dragged in,” Clay said when they finally made it to the safe house the next day.

“Literally,” Jake said as he deposited his pack. “Wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for this guy.” He indicated towards Cougar with his thumb.

Cougar shrugged nonchalantly, as if it had been nothing.

Pooch greeted them each with a warm hug before remarking that they smelled rather strongly.

“Well you get stuck in the jungle for two weeks and we’ll see how you smell after,” Jake ribbed.

After a blissfully hot shower with lots and lots of soap, the team congregated around empanadas and beer to catch up on what had happened to each of them after they had gotten separated. Clay and Roque had somehow managed to get into the rebels’ main building, take out the leader and his closest cronies, and steal a jeep to get away in. Pooch, meanwhile, had found their armory and blown it up - which explained the loud explosion Jake and Cougar had heard - before hotwiring one of their armored cars and making his own escape.

“So basically, you guys finished the mission while I got shot and we got stuck in the jungle for two weeks?” Jake summarized.

“Pretty much,” Pooch acknowledged.

“Well fuck me,” Jake said around a sip of beer. “At least we had coffee, eh Cougs?”

Cougar chucked a bit of empanada crust at Jake’s head.

Jake smiled, content in knowing that the team was together again and everything was back to normal. What standard of normal things would be back to between him and Cougar, who had barely touched him since they’d gotten to the safehouse, remained to be seen.

“Well boys, eat up and catch some sleep,” Clay announced when he returned from his call to mission control. “We’ve headed out at 0700 tomorrow for our lift back home.”

“Ugh,” Jake groaned. “Can we go back to the cabin? We got to sleep in there.”

“Only if you want to lose that leg,” Cougar retorted.

The empanadas were soon gone, as was the beer, and the team started to head to their respective rooms. Jake lingered, hoping to catch Cougar alone, but Pooch was also still nursing the last sips of his beer and made no signs of getting up soon. So Jake pulled himself to his feet and made his way towards the bedrooms. 

“Good night guys,” he said when he reached the doorway. Cougar’s head snapped up, his gaze meeting Jake’s. The corner of his mouth twitched and he held up a hand, his fingers splayed. ‘Give me five,’ the gesture said, and Jake nodded in acknowledgement.

Jake got ready for bed, glad to finally have a real toothbrush and actual pajamas again, and flopped onto the mattress. He tried not to lose himself to his thoughts, but that proved to be difficult.

Five minutes on the dot, there was a quiet knock on Jake’s door before it opened and Cougar slipped in.

“Hey there,” Jake said, propping himself up on his elbows.

Cougar crossed the room in three quick strides and knelt on the bed next to Jake. 

Jake reached up but stopped before he was touching Cougar’s cheek. He was about to drop his hand again but the warm sparkle in Cougar’s eyes answered his questions, so instead he slid his hand around the back of Cougar’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

Cougar followed willingly, kissing back eagerly.

“So this is happening?” Jake asked when they finally pulled apart to catch their breath. “You and me? Not just a heat of the moment, stuck in the jungle thing?”

Cougar shook his head slowly and reached out to stroke Jake’s cheek. “If you want.”

A surge of happiness rolled through Jake and he found himself grinning like a mad person. “Oh yes, I want. Very much.”

***

The flight back to Fort Bragg was bumpy and felt agonizingly long, as did the barrage of medical check-ups and debriefs they had to sit through, but finally Jake was issued a clean bill of health as well as instructions to rest and get fit again and the whole team was given two weeks’ leave for the holidays.

Jake headed to New Hampshire as always, Cougar with him. It was almost a tradition at this point - Jake had dragged him along the first time three years earlier when he’d learned that Cougar would otherwise have spent the holidays alone on base - but it was different now. 

Jess took one look at them when she picked them up from the airport, shook her head and grinned. “About damn time,” she said.

Jake had his arms full with his squirming niece, who was in the process of climbing up his torso to steal his beret, otherwise he would have jabbed his sister in the ribs.

Cougar just smiled as he looked between the members of the Jensen family. “They’re all crazy,” he whispered loudly to Beth.

“You love it, Cougs,” Jake teased back with a grin.

Cougar shrugged, his smile widening. “I do.”


End file.
